Gas turbine engines include a variety of parts, such as tubes, that have a complex geometry with precise dimensional requirements. For example, a given tube may have a defined length and diameter, and a profile that includes a plurality of curves and/or bends. If a worn tube is repaired (e.g., by welding), it may be desirable to verify that the repaired tube still complies with the dimensional requirements of its design.
In the prior art, technicians seeking to perform such a verification had to manually configure an inspection station for a given tube design, which involved precisely arranging a variety of contact points for a template tube, and then verifying one or more additional tubes against those contact points. For example, contact points may be situated at different locations along the length of the template tube (e.g., respective contact points for different discrete sections of a tube). Once an inspection station was configured, a technician could determine whether a repaired tube placed in the inspection station contacted all of the intended contact points. If some contact points are not contacted, that may be evidence of tube misalignment, for example. The process of manually configuring inspection stations is very time-consuming.